Dr. Sackmann breaks his silence

RITZVILLE – Dr. Charles “Marty” Sackmann began employment contract discussions with Adams County Hospital District No. 2 officials last March. Since then, he has been reluctant to share details about those communications.

“Up to this point, my silence on the matter has been out of respect to the negotiations process,” he said.

But Sackmann’s status at the public healthcare facility became a topic of discussion during a Sept. 27 meeting of Adams Hospital District No. 2 commissioners.

The public taxing authority does business as East Adams Rural Healthcare.

At the meeting, several of his patients voiced their concerns over the contract and breakdown of negotiations over his ability to practice medicine at the hospital.

Since that meeting and the termination of negotiations, Sackmann has opened up about the process.

“I understand how people can have differing opinions and you can still respect them,” the Ritzville native said. “But after five months of negotiations and my expenditure of several thousand dollars in legal fees, the hospital administration didn’t want it to work.

“They don’t want a contract with me. They want to buy my practice and gain access to a corner lot near the hospital—my mom’s house. My answer is still ‘no.’”

Jeffrey R. Galloway, an attorney licensed in Washington and Idaho, represents Sackmann. His practice focuses on litigation, including medical malpractice defense and contract disputes.

Sticking points involved maintaining privileges in regard to malpractice insurance and access to patient data, Sackmann said in response to comments made at the Sept. 27 meeting.

“Like most negotiations, these contract discussions centered on money,” hospital district Commissioner Eric Walker said at the time.

Sackmann said it’s more than that.

Malpractice insurers require all physicians in a facility to have full access to patient medical files, he said. When Sackmann’s contract was terminated Aug. 1, the district restricted his electronic access to patient records for eight days.

“They even changed my password,” he said. “To regain access, I had to retain legal counsel. At that point, they agreed to extend my electronic access until Sept. 1.”

Hospital district attorney Sandra Johnson said Sept. 27 that Dr. Sackmann “has privileges.”

But Sackmann said he is required to show proof of insurance when he works at the hospital.

His primary care clinic, Hometown Family Medicine, carries malpractice insurance through Physicians Insurance. That firm, founded in 1981 under the auspices of the Washington State Medical Association, provides insurance for 8,500 members in Washington State.

Sackmann said the hospital has declined to provide him a copy of its insurance policy, something he needs for his insurer’s records.

The attorneys who negotiated his separation from the hospital stipulated that Sackmann’s privileges be allowed to expire next March.

“I will probably resign my privileges before then,” Sackmann said. “I will not pay for additional malpractice insurance.”

Sackmann said there are other issues, as well.

In private practice, physicians are allowed freedom in acceptance of patients, he said, adding: “If I agreed to the codicils in those agreements, Hometown would no longer be a private practice.”

During the Sept. 27 meeting, hospital district CEO Corey Fedie said Dr. Sackmann had been offered three contract modifications. As that meeting progressed the primary sticking point became the on-call rate paid to a physician.

Johnson said two laws govern the rate – the federal anti-kickback statute and the Physician Ethics in Self Referrals Act.

“Under these laws, physician compensation must be consistent with fair market value,” Johnson said during the meeting last month.

From Sackmann’s point of view, the dollar amounts in the initial contract offer were ridiculously low.

“My attorney said, ‘You’d be better off getting a job at Arby’s.’ I’m asking them to pay me what they’re paying others at the same hospital. It’s that simple.”

Sackmann noted, however, that the hospital administration refuses to divulge salary data for current hospital district employees, citing confidentiality concerns.

“My counsel and I are extremely aware of what other hospitals are paying and what the on-call rates are,” he said. “But the EARH administration is unwilling to go on the record with that information.”

Sackmann added that “critical-access hospitals” like EARH are allowed leeway in signing and keeping physicians.

Attorney Galloway wrote to the hospital, “I value the Ritzville community and the patients Dr. Sackmann serves through both his private practice and performing on-call service. However, the contract you’ve proposed does not include appropriate compensation and is too restrictive.”

Galloway listed two issues — compensation and restrictions — as factors in the breakdown of negotiations.

“I have loved my work at the hospital,” Sackmann said. “But after listening to legal advice and my own conscience, I can’t see myself working there under these circumstances and the hospital’s current leadership.”